Giant pages from ancient Quran on display in Washington, DC

In this photo taken Oct. 20, 2016, Massumeh Farhad, left, and Simon Rettig, curators of the exhibit "The Art of the Qur'an: Treasures from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts," look at pages from a 5-foot by 7-foot Quran displayed as part of the exhibit at the Sackler Gallery in Washington. (AP Photo/Molly Riley)
(The Associated Press)

In this photo taken Oct. 20, 2016, Simon Rettig, left, and Massumeh Farhad, curators of the exhibit "The Art of the Qur'an: Treasures from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts," look at pages from a 5-foot by 7-foot Quran displayed as part of the exhibit at the Sackler Gallery in Washington. (AP Photo/Molly Riley)
(The Associated Press)

In this photo taken Oct. 20, 2016, Simon Rettig, left, and Massumeh Farhad, curators of the exhibit "The Art of the Qur'an: Treasures from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts," look at pages from a 5-foot by 7-foot Quran displayed as part of the exhibit at the Sackler Gallery in Washington. (AP Photo/Molly Riley)
(The Associated Press)

WASHINGTON – Books come in all sizes, but one 15th century Quran was so enormous, it's said that a wheelbarrow was needed to carry it.

Two consecutive pages of this Quran will be on display during the show "The Art of the Qur'an: Treasures from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts," which opens Saturday at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. The sprawling pages, each measuring 5 feet by 7 feet, with rows of calligraphy standing 8 to 9 inches high, date from about 1400.

Like many items in the exhibit focused on the Muslim holy book, curator Massumeh Farhad says these pages come with a story. This one involves the feared nomadic conqueror, Timur, who ruled a huge empire based in central Asia.

As the story goes, Timur was unimpressed when presented with a Quran so small that it fit inside a signet ring. So calligrapher Omar Aqta' tried again, creating this giant Quran and so pleasing Timur that he was rewarded handsomely.